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Editorial: Why is the official GUI wallet not released yet

Short answer: because this will be more than just a wrapper

Long answer below

This is a recurring question, from long-time holders and newcomers alike.

There is a misunderstanding here and we have to confess we have not been performing very well at dispelling it.

Truth is we are not trying to merely create a GUI, as in a GUI wrapper. Fact is these simple wrappers already exist (Jojatekok's Windows GUI, jwinterm's lightWallet, others and we could probably use Bitcoin wallet too).

What we are building is more than a wrapper, it is a full-fledged scalable GUI software. And scalable is the hard part, not GUI - remember, scalability is one of the three pillars of Monero.

What is scalable?

  • Quoting fluffypony "Merchants, exchanges, and automated systems need several things, and the database is just the first step. Without walletnotify / blocknotify functionality, and without an RPC layer that supports HTTPS and Simple Auth it is immensely painful for merchants to build systems, the paradigm shift is too large."
  • Mnemonic seed for increased security (why).
  • Low RAM footprint ("the DB", presently Symas Lightning MDB but later a lot others, since we built a database API).
  • e-commerce prerequisites, notably for payment processors.
  • Low bandwith footprint (a framework for SPV, like Electrum). The remote node provides a similar experience in that one doesn't have to download the whole blockchain, but this is where the similarities end and SPV would be lighter than a remote node.
  • Much better understood (thus secure) and refactored code. This is behind-the-scene stuff and not sexy, but when it comes to securing your money, this matters. The Monero Protocol is sound, but we are not that comfortable with the source code we inherited in April (and improved since then). Note: we are pretty demanding on security, so when we say that "we are not that comfortable", this means the security is already high, just not high enough :)
  • Gitian binaries
  • Various mainstream users niceties, such as an address book, an easy way to do bookeeping (including easily report to tax offices, because Monero is not meant just for l33t haX0r, but for everyone, including legal persons like corporations, NGO, political parties...)
  • Viewkey for optional transparency (see Riccardo Spagni's quote on The Three Pilllars of Monero)
  • Have a solid foundation for easy improvements later on (like third-parties improvements). Because once the (scalable) GUI wallet will be there, we expect things to accelerate - and we rather be ready for the acceleration. Fasten your seatbelt, Dorothy.

Why is scalable important?

Because it is one of the three pillars :)

More seriously, because once the official GUI wallet will be there, visibility will increase a lot. Which means more users who know nothing about Monero and later not even about cryptocurrencies. These people won't give a second thought. One does only one first impression. It must be the right one. Hence the necessity for a wallet than can handle the load. Be scalable, not that much on a technical standpoint than on a, say, "political" standpoint.

We hope we answered your questions and, as always, don't hesitate to provide feedback. We'll do our best to make this even more clear if necessary.

Oh, one more thing: we do not have any release date for the GUI wallet, not even tentative. The only thing we can say is that the GUI wallet requires the database to be operational - and the database is progressing very well.

To conclude, some commented screenshots of the wallet some months ago, as well as a video.

Replies: 6
ManfredKarrer edited 8 years ago Replies: 2 | Weight: -337 | Link [ - ]

Your GUI wallet plans, the design and preview looks very promising, but I fear that you are trying to do too much with the (assumed) limited resources you have. It is not really true that there are GUI (wrapper) wallets, at least on MAC there is none. The .NET wallet requires mono framework installation what many people will not do (me included). Its really a pity that one of the most promising CryptoCoins falls behind others in that regards! Every shitcoin has a GUI wallet (though they have copied it from elsewhere :-)). Why not execute your approach more in steps, plan an absolute minimal version like the minimized wallet, which has its own benefits (super simple UI) and add features over time instead to try to build a e-commerce ready super wallet - I fear that will take a year or more to see the light. Thats more a task for businesses around Monero later, leave them something otherwise they will not come :-). Monero is really needed and has a big potential but I think as long you are focussing on techies-only it will be limited to where it is now (which is certainly not so bad :-)).

Reply to: ManfredKarrer
rocco posted 8 years ago Weight: -326 | Link [ - ]

thats exactly what they try to do. the limited recources cant be burnt on stuff that is no sustainable. so unfortunately first the groundwork has to be done. no need to do some GUI wrapper solution if everything we need is a good working API (+ the database ofc)

Reply to: ManfredKarrer
dEBRUYNE edited 8 years ago Weight: -333 | Link [ - ]

This is from smooth (core team member):


https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=753252.msg11888169#msg11888169

There are various pieces that are needed as prerequisites for the GUI including improving the core APIs. That work has been steadily progressing (mostly by oranjuice), but doesn't have a high degree of visibility. It is the kind of nuts-and-bolts work that is absolutely necessary to turn the half-finished prototype we started with into a maintainable project that can thrive for many years.

Getting the DB into a release-ready state has also been considered an effective prerequisite for a useful GUI as well since very few people would ever use a GUI with multi gigabyte RAM requirements.

My expectation is that once the DB is released there will start to be much more visible progress on the GUI.


In addition, some other things (like libraryzing, see -> https://getmonero.org/design-goals/) need to be done before a proper working GUI could be released. It wouldn't make sense to release it in bits, because it wouldn't properly function then.

Furthermore, the design is already finished and is easily wired up when the preceeding fundamentals are completed.

So in conclusion, we have to be patient for a little longer ;)

Hueristic edited 8 years ago Replies: 1 | Weight: -550 | Link [ + ]

Updated. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CryptoNote&diff=653993275&oldid=653964855

Reply to: Hueristic
davidlatapie edited 8 years ago Replies: 1 | Weight: -458 | Link [ - ]

Thanks, Hueristic!

Reply to: davidlatapie Hueristic
coomme edited 8 years ago Weight: -454 | Link [ - ]

hi, when I upgrade from v8.8.1 to v8.8.6 , my wallet.bin file can't load

maybe my old password set 4 bit, like 1234 or abcd, maybe it's a bug ?

and , I try upgrade to v8.8.6 only use wallet.bin.keys, but can't create bin file, thanks!

or, how can I change my wallet password?